Retirement
by Anicomicgeek
Summary: Takes place after "Spider-Man: Clone Saga" and hence in that universe and spoliers. As Peter considering his decisions after what happened, Dr. Connors goes missing. Now Peter must reconsider some of his choices as he searches for Connors.
1. Ten Minute Retirement

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story. _Spider-Man_ and all related characters are the property of Marvel Comics, a division of the Disney Corporation. Ergo, no profit is being made off this story and it is being written solely for entertainment purposes.

* * *

Continuity Note: This takes "place" in the universe of _Spider-Man: Clone Saga_ miniseries. As a result, it's not in Marvel's main continuity and contains spoilers to said miniseries. Also, I am using the Marvel Universes it was during the original version of the _Clone Saga_. Well, in board strokes, anyway, though that isn't stopping me from using characters introduced since then. (Who actually likes _The Crossing_ or _Heroes Reborn_?).

Four Months Ago

Dr. Curt Connors sat in a chair at a doctor's office with his wife, Martha, and their son, Billy. Recently, Martha and Billy had been feeling sick, but despite all of Curt's medical training and his best efforts, he couldn't help them getting better. He tried everything he could and even moved back to New York City and got a job at a lab to help him pay for medical treatment for Martha and Billy.

Eventually, after a series of failures, he relented and took them to see Dr. Bradley Throne, a known specialist, in the hopes that he could figure out what was wrong with them and could help them get better. It'd been weeks on tests on his family, but if it helps them, then it was worth it.

Dread welled up in Curt as the wait grew longer. _Where is he?_ he thought.

Just then, Bradley walked in and sat behind his desk, a forlorn expression of his face. "Mr. Connors, Mrs. Connors, Billy, I'm afraid I've got bad news."

Curt began to feel fear fill him at those words, and he knew that Martha and Billy were probably feeling worse at the news. At the same time, he could feel the Lizard trying to crawl his way out of his mind, trying to take advantage of Curt's rage and sadness to escape

"What is it?" Martha asked.

"I'm sorry, but both you and your son have cancer, Mrs. Connors," Bradley replied, then he sighed and rubbed his eyes. This part was always hard for him. "It's terminal. I'd say you both have a couple of years at best. I wish I had better news, but I sadly don't. I'm sorry."

Suddenly, Curt was livid. "Unacceptable!" he yelled. "You have to help them! You have to!"

"We tired, Dr. Connors," Bradley began, "but—"

"No, you haven't!" Curt roared. Unbeknownst to him, his eyes were an eerie red. "You haven't done enough!" Then he grabbed Bradley. "You haven't—!"

"Curt, calm down," Martha whispered.

"How can I?" Curt yelled.

"Your . . . condition," Martha replied.

Curt blinked. He could feel the Lizard tearing at him now, get close to breaking free and realized that it wouldn't be good for anyone if he lost control. He took a deep breath, clamed down, and his eyes returns to their normal blue. "I-I'm sorry, Dr. Throne."

"I'm sorry, Curt, I wish I could do more," Bradley stated solemnly.

_Maybe I can, though,_ Curt thought solemnly. _I have to try—for my family._

* * *

Retirement

Chapter 1: Ten Minute Retirement

By Anicomicgeek

Rated T for Violence and Language

* * *

Now

Peter Parker stood in a bedroom in his house, looking at the mail, looking at the mail. He was hoping that his grant application would get approved so he could support his family. But after the recent mess with Harry Osborn, his former best friend, he was glad that his life was more or less back on track and that he had a new friend in Ben Reilly.

But one question remained in the back of his mind after everything that happened. A question eating at him now—should he once again don the costume of Spider-Man or just retire the identity altogether? After all, he did retire and handed over the identity to Ben after they and Kaine took on the Jackal. But then he donned the costume again briefly—mostly in trying to get to the hospital one time, though they got sidetracked with Kaine, and then when Harry arranged for his newborn daughter, May, to be kidnapped.

Along the adventure, Peter and Ben met a clone of Norman Osborn, who oddly decided to end the feud and sided with Peter and Ben—and died saving Peter. At the same time, Kaine—thanks to doubts in his own mind and encouragement from the Norman clone—decided to return baby May to her mother, Mary Jane Watson-Parker.

Then—with Harry in Ravencroft Institute, baby May safe, and Kaine going missing—Ben decided to leave, but he did say he would visit. That decision meant one thing.

No more Spider-Man.

Even the press had noticed Spider-Man's absence and began to report on it. Some people were wondering where he went, claiming that the city needed Spider-Man and hoping he'd return. Others—like Peter's old boss, John Jonah Jameson—were glad that he was gone, hoping that he'd stay gone and for good this time.

Even now, Peter began mulling over that. He was a father now, so he can't be Spider-Man anymore and besides, New York City also had Daredevil, the Avengers, The Fantastic Four, and several other super heroes, so the city could stand to do without one more. But on the other hand, Spider-Man was a big part of his life and he still heard Uncle Ben's words: "With great power comes great responsibility." On the other hand, he also knew that Uncle Ben would understand where he was coming from in retiring.

"Still thinking about putting the costume back on?" a voice asked.

Spinning to look behind him, Peter looked to see Mary Jane and said, "Oh, yeah. Sort of. I mean, I deserve to retire, don't I?"

"Yes, you do," Mary Jane said sympathetically. "I also know that you feel like a big part of your life is now gone." She knew what Peter was going through and could relate, but it would be good to have some peace and stability.

"There's other who can take care of things," Peter said. "The Avengers, the F.F., Daredevil, Luke Cage, Moon Knight—"

"There are people who help the world without donning tights and getting into brawls with psychopaths on a daily basis, you know," Mary Jane said. "You just have to let go and move on. We have a daughter now and we should think of her, too."

Peter smiled. "You're right, of course. I just have to let it go. I'm not Spider-Man anymore, I'm a father. The world won't end because I decided to retire."

"There you go," Mary Jane said, smiling.

Suddenly, Peter looked out to see a flare that read, _SPIDER-MAN, WHERE ARE YOU?_ Peter figured it was probably the Human Torch of the Fantastic Four trying to get Spider-Man's attention. He knew that Ben probably didn't make a good impression on Johnny Storm and that Johnny also probably heard about his and Ben's battle with Kaine while both of them were dressed in their respective Spider-Man costumes.

Sighing, Peter said with a rueful smile, "No matter how much I'll miss it."

*****S*****

In a house in Queens, several officer were looking around, observing the damage after they'd gotten a report about weird noises coming from the house a few weeks ago. When the officers arrived to the house, they found the walls had scratches and holes in them, stuff were smashed to pieces or turned over, and there were pieces of ripped clothing in the bedrooms, but there was no sign of anyone at the house.

Detective Neil Garrett looked around the scene, having already interviewed the woman who made the call. According to her, Dr. Curt Connors lived at the house with his wife and son. The woman had told them what she believed was going on.

"I tell you, I think there's some strange going-ons at night," the woman said. "I've seen the light in his basement on at four in the morning and heard weird noises. I think he's runnin' a meth lab or something in his basement!"

The detective looked at the basement to find there was a lab, but whatever Connors was working on, it wasn't methamphetamine or something like that. They also found notes on chalkboards and in notebooks. As they continued, it became clear that Connors was indeed working on a project late into the night, but a lot of them couldn't figure out what it was he was working on, so they shipped it off to labs to see if someone could.

Right now, though, Garrett was trying to figure out what happened to the family. From what he could tell from what was left in the house, they could be in danger . . . or worse—and if something did happen to them, then the prime suspect would be the also-missing Curt Connors.

Grabbing the index book and looking through it, Garrett hoped that maybe some of the people listed in it would have information on Connors and help with the case. After all, time has of the essence and if the family was in danger, then the sooner they find them, the better.

Noticing something on the floor, Garrett leaned down to get a better look. What he saw looked like lizard scales. "Just what was Connors up to?" he muttered.

*****S*****

At their house, Mary Jane saw Peter walk in with the mail. He carried most of it in one hand, but in the other, he held an envelope of particular interest. As Peter sat the rest of the mail down on a coffee table, he took the envelope and opened it, then read the letter, feeling disappointment as he did so.

Noticing this, Mary Jane concerned and asked, "Let me guess: the grant proposal got turned down?"

Peter nodded, then read aloud, " 'Dear, Mr. Parker, we are interesting in your proposal, but we regret to inform you that we've met our limit for the year. Sorry, but please try again next year.' " Peter then crumpled the note and threw it at a trashcan. "I worked so hard on it."

Mary Jane sighed and asked, "What now?"

"Well, TriCorp seems to be hiring," Peter noted "I put in an application there just in case the grant proposal got denied and I could continue to work at the _Daily Bugle_ some more or apply for a job at Midtown High since they're looking for teachers. It wouldn't be much, but at least our family would be supported."

"Well, speaking of the _Daily Bugle_, it seems they've noticed it Spider-Man's absence." Mary Jane handed Peter the latest copy of the _Bugle_.

Peter furrowed his brow as he looked at the front page. The headline read, SPIDER-MAN: COWARD OR CRIMINAL? Glancing at the story, Peter realized Mary Jane was right—it was about Spider-Man's disappearance. He then shook his head and put the paper down.

"I see Jonah's gotten tired of the old 'Threat or Menace' headline of old," Peter commented, smiling. "Sorry, J.J., old pal, old buddy, but Spidey's staying in the past. You didn't win, but I'll let you think you did, anyway."

"Was that so hard?" Mary Jane asked.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Peter walked over to the door and opened it. There stood a man in a trench coat, holding a badge, a grave look on his face.

"Can I help you?" Peter asked.

"Are you Peter Parker?" the man asked.

"Yes," Peter replied. _What could this be about?_

"I'm Detective Neil Garrett," the man replied. "Do you know a Dr. Curt Connors?"

"Yeah," Peter replied. "I'd heard he recently moved back. What is this about? Is he in some kind of trouble?"

"A couple of weeks ago," Garrett began, "we got a call about something happening at his residence. When we got there, the place was a mess. The walls were scratched up, pictures and TV were broken, and there was no sign of Connors's family. We tried to interview him, but he was hesitant, then, it seems, left town as we couldn't find him."

Worry and dread began to consume Peter as he heard this. _Dr. Connors is missing? He could've have just up and disappeared. That's not like him as all, unless . . . _Then he felt his heart sink. _Could Dr. Connors have slipped back into Lizard mode and killed his family?_

"How do you know Connors?"

"We met while I was in college. I was his teaching assistant for a while."

"Has he contact you recently?"

"No."

"Do you anything about his recent activities?"

"No."

"Well, call me if you find out where he is. He is a person of interest in this case."

"I'll do that."

As Garrett left, Mary Jane walked over and asked, "Peter?"

"Do we still have that box I put that stuff in?" Peter asked suddenly, walking up to the attic.

"Peter, you can't be serious!" Mary Jane said in disbelief as she followed him. "You can't seriously be considering—!"

"He's in trouble," Peter stated as he reached the attic. Looking through boxes, he added, "I need to find out what's going on with him."

Mary Jane shook her head and said, "You just said so yourself—Spider-Man's retired and he wasn't the only superhero in New York. Let someone else take care of this."

"But they don't know Connors personally; I do," Peter stated, pulling out a box. Then he opened the box and got out his Spider-Man costume, having stored it since the battle with Harry. As he started to change into the costume, he added, "It's my duty to find him . . . And stop him if he's lost his battle with his 'other half.' Sorry, M.J., but I gotta do it."

"I understand. If Aunt May or anyone else asks for you, what should I tell them?

"Just tell them I've gone out and I don't know when I'll be back."

Mary Jane sighed, then asked, "Just . . . be careful, okay?"

"I will," Peter said, putting the mask on. Then he opened a window, fired a webline and swung out.

_Peter, please come back to me safe and sound, _Mary Jane thought worriedly.

*****S*****

At a Stark Enterprise research center in New York City, two guards sat at a desk, drinking coffee and looking at the monitors and watching what the security camera caught. It's so far been quiet, but that could change. One of the guard was looking at the newspaper known as the _Daily Globe_. It was reporting about a recent rash of break-ins at other laboratories.

"Think whoever did these robberies will try anything here?" the guard reading the paper said.

The other guard scoffed, then said, "No. After all, chances are Iron Man will swoop down and kick the ass of whoever tired to do that, so just relax."

"I suppose so," the first guard said. "But still . . . you gotta admit that it's weird. Several people have said that they've seen a creature of some kind leave with some vials and stuff. Maybe I should ask for a transfer to some other city."

"Yeah, right," the second guard said.

Suddenly, an alarm went off and the two guards looked at a monitor to see a creature rummage through a lab. From what they could tell, the creature wore tattered clothing and had a tail.

"Where is that?" the first guard asked.

"Lab five," the second replied.

"Quickly, the guards pulled out their guns and ran towards the lab.

Once they got there, saw were able to get a better look at the creature. It looked reptilian and seemed to wear a tattered lab coat. Its eyes were yellow, yet had humanity to them and that humanity showed in his body language. Whatever the creature was looking for, it seemed to be careful and through in what it was dealing with. From what they could see, it seemed to look male.

Immediately, the guard realized who it was—the Lizard.

"Hold it!" the first guard yelled. "Stay right there. The police are on their way, y-you freak show!"

The Lizard looked up and hissed, "No, not now! I have to help them, save them from what I did to them!" With that, the Lizard swung his tail and knocked down the guards.

Quickly recovering, one of the guards grabbed his gun and fired a shot, hitting the Lizard in the shoulder—but the bullet didn't pierce his dense skin. The Lizard roared and grabbed the guard, hoisting him up into the air.

But instead of hurting the guard, the Lizard simply said, "Don't do that." He then threw the guard down and smashed through a window to escape.

*****S*****

Spider-Man swung down to the house where, according to the phonebook, said Curt Connors was living in. It was empty, aside from a couple of cops standing outside and sipping coffee. That suited Spider-Man just fine as he wasn't in the mood to deal with police yelling and shooting at him.

Sliding a window open, he crawled in and began to search the house, noticing the mess. Starting with Billy's room, he noticed that the mattress was torn to pieces and the frame was smashed apart. Billy's dresser was also smashed to pieces and his clothes and bed sheets were ripped to shreds. Toys were smashed and broken, the pieces scattered all over the floor.

Walking over to the master bedroom, Spider-Man was greeted to a similar sight: bed frame smashed, the mattress was torn up, clothes were scattered and ripped, the dresser and nightstands were smashed, and the lamps were broken. Spider-Man walked to the bathroom to find a broken mirror. Looking on the floor, Spider-Man noticed some stuff on the floor and scooped them up, then looked at them. Under his mask, his eyes widened.

_These are lizard scales!_ Spider-Man thought. _So Dr. Connors _did_ transform into the Lizard! What happened? What drove you to become the Lizard__—__and are you beyond hope this time?_

Walking back out to the bedroom, Spider-Man looked around again, but this time, he noticed something odd—there was no blood. Running back to Billy's room, he noticed there was no blood there, too. He then searched the whole house and found, despite the aftermath of carnage, there was no blood anywhere.

_Could the Lizard have taken them out of the house to kill them?_ he thought. _Or . . . is it possible that someone kidnapped them and Dr. Connors turned into the Lizard because of the stress._ Then Spider-Man felt hopeful. _They could still be alive!_

Noticing a light blinking on the phone, Spider-Man walked over to it. The phone showed it had two voicemail messages recorded on it. _Maybe Dr. Connors's voicemail has some clues,_ he thought as he pressed a button to play one of them.

"Curt, it's Ted," a voice from the answering machine said. "I'm sorry to do this, but you've been reporting to work late more and more recently, and now you've stopped coming in altogether." Then the voice sighed. "I realize you've got some problems in your life, but I have to do this. Please, don't take it personally, but you're fired. Could you come by and clean out your belongings? Bye."

Spider-Man then scrolled to the second message and played it next.

"Curt, it's Bradley," another voice said from the answering machine. "You and your family haven't made an appointment to my office for weeks now and I'm concerned about this. Please, call me."

Sighing, Spider-Man looked through the caller ID for Throne's number. When he found a number for a Dr. Bradley Throne, he began to look for an address book or a rolodex, hoping to find the doctor's phone number and address. Pulling out a phonebook, he quickly flipped through it, hoping to find the number. He stopped when he found the number, which was listed in the entry for Throne's office.

Spider-Man ripped out the page, then raced back to Billy's bedroom, slipped out, then fired a webline and swung off.

*****S*****

Somewhere, the creature known as the Lizard sat at a table, working with chemicals and trying to take notes. If someone saw him and could read body language, they'd notice a difference in the Lizard body language than normal for him, showing more humanity. Even looking into his eyes showed more humanity in them.

That's because now the Lizard persona wasn't in control—the Curt Connors persona was.

Working with vials, he was trying an experiment, but it was failing and Curt was getting frustrated about what happened. It was like before in the past. Swinging his arms and throwing several vials crashing onto the floor, Curt lowered his hand into his hands, feeling drained and tired.

"Daddy?" Curt heard a boy's voice called out, concerned.

"You've been shot!" Curt heard a feminine voice called out, horrified. "Curt, are you—?"

Curt looked at the shadows. "I'm fine," he said exhaustedly. "I can heal from the wound in this form. But I failed. I couldn't get the chemicals I needed from Stark Enterprises . . . and my recent experiment failed." Sighing, he apologetically said, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that brought this curse onto us and now . . . onto the two of you."

"Curt?" the feminine voice asked.

"I didn't want to hide you here, but I didn't have a choice," Curt whispered. "I know the stench is . . . unbearable, but I'm trying to undo what I did. I will fix this. That the only way I can stone for what I did to you."

"Curt," the feminine voice murmured, upset and hurt.

"I'm so sorry," Curt whispered. "I don't deserve forgiveness . . . for what I did, but I _will_ make it up to you, I promise."

*****S*****

The sun was setting as Spider-Man was swinging through the streets, hoping to get to Doctor Throne before he left for the night. He hoped that Throne had some answers that could help find out what was going on with Curt and his family.

"Hey, there you are!" a voice called out. Spider-Man swung the ledge of a building and looked to see Johnny Storm, in Human Torch mode, behind him.

"Johnny, what do you want?" Spider-Man asked impatiently.

"Whoa, cool your jet, Spidey," Johnny said. "It's good to see you back. Where were you? What were you doing and what was up with that imposter?"

"I retired," Spider-Man replied.

Johnny was taken aback by this. "Wait, retired?" he asked. "Why? You don't look retired right now."

"Personal reasons," Spider-Man replied. "I have a family now, Johnny. And I'm only back because someone I know is in trouble. Once I find him and help him, I'm going to retirement."

"You can't retire!" Johnny said. "What about the Scorpion or Rhino? What about the Goblins or Doc Ock What about Venom or—"

"They're someone else's problem now," Spider-Man said. "Once I'm done with this, I'm retiring for good. Look, it was fun at times, but I have a child now, and I gotta put my family first, Johnny. We knew it wasn't always going to last forever."

"So you have a family," Johnny said, annoyed. "Big deal. The F.F. are a family, and Reed and Sue have a son, but you don't see us retiring, do you?"

"I'm not you," Spider-Man said, "and you're not like every other hero. You're explorers and adventurers. That was your life even before you got your powers. Heck, even without your powers, it'd probably still be your life. I don't have that life."

"But, Spidey, people here you. Even if you quit, people are still going to need you. You're more important to people than you realize."

"Like I said, we both knew it wasn't going to last forever." Spider-Man sighed. "I gotta go."

"Spider-Man!" Johnny yelled, but it was too late was Spider-Man swung off.

Swinging away, Spider-Man began to mull over what Johnny said. Johnny had pretty much vocalize a lot of what he was thinking already and that Johnny did have a point about family. The Fantastic Four were a family themselves, but they didn't retire when Franklin was born. Sure, they took time off, but they didn't retire.

_Can I balance them?_ he thought. _Can I be a family man and still be Spider-Man? Maybe. Wait, no, I told MJ I wouldn't do this anymore._ He scoffed. _Yeah, that's why I'm in costume, looking for Doctor Connors and his family, hoping they aren't in trouble. What right do I have to bring this to my family now that I'm a father? Maybe I should've quit sooner, when I first got married._

Swinging onto the wall of a building, Spider-Man crawled the wall and over to a window. He then crawled onto the roof and found an access door there. Going in through the door, Spider-Man leapt onto the ceiling and crawled his wall down to the right floor, then made his way to one of the offices. Once he got into the office he wanted, he clung onto the ceiling waited.

After a few moments, he saw a man in a lab coat walk in and gather some stuff for the night, a worried look on his face. _Is that Dr. Throne?_ Spider-Man thought.

The man saw a guard walked by. The guard stopped and said, Good night, Dr. Throne."

"Good night, Christopher," Bradley Throne said. He then finished packing some stuff and made this way to the door.

Stopping Throne, Spider-Man asked, "Are you Dr. Throne?"

Bradley spun around and looked to see Spider-Man leap onto the floor. "Spider-Man?" he asked, surprised. "But you're gone! The papers said that you're missing! Why are you here? I did nothing wrong!"

"Yeah, I read," Spider-Man said, "and I'm not after for you. Well, I am here to talk to you, though. I'm here to ask you about Curt Connors."

"Why?" Bradley asked. "What is it to you?"

"He's a friend of mine and I think he needs help," Spider-Man replied.

Bradley sighed. "Some cops came by here, too, asking about him."

"I listened to his answering machine. What was that about an appointment?"

Throne sighed. "I was treating his wife and son after they'd gotten sick. They had contracted terminal cancer not too long ago and I was the one who discovered it."

_That could've triggered his recent transformation,_ Spider-Man thought. _Stress from that probably would've made him snap._

"I was treating them one day when I noticed something odd in their blood work. I didn't think too much of it at the time, but during their next—and final—appointment, they somehow miraculously got better. It looked like they might live after all. I asked Curt to make another appointment just in case, though, but he never did. So I grew concerned and called him, but he never called back."

"I . . . see," Spider-Man said, perplexed. "Thanks, Doctor." Opening a window, Spider-Man leapt out and fired a webline, swinging away.

Swinging away, Spider-Man thought, _That doesn't make any sense, though. If they were indeed getting better, wouldn't that have taken the edge off of Dr. Connors and calm him down? Maybe the Lizard got too far along for Connors to stop. I don't know. Maybe I should get some civvies and swing by the _Bugle_ to see if there's been any signs of the Lizard anywhere._

*****S*****

At a forensics lab, Carlie Cooper, a technician, was working on one of the book related to the Connors case, hoping that what's in it could lead to answers to the case. She'd read about some of Connors's work. So far, she felt what she was reading was fascinating and a good way to get into Connors's mind.

At that moment, Detective Garrett walked in and asked, "Do you have anything on those books and board yet?"

Carlie nodded and replied, "I was able to understand what was said in those notebooks and chalkboards you handed us. I think I know what Connors was working on before he disappeared."

"Well?" Garrett asked.

"He was working on something and it seems he was driven, but whatever it was, it was not something to hurt people, I believe," Carlie asked. "Or if it was to hurt people, the only one he was hurting was himself at times."

"How do you figure?" Garrett asked.

"From what I could read, it seems medical or genetic in nature," Carlie said. "Maybe it was both. From what we could tell, it seems that Connors was researching cancer, studying it, and making notes about it and experiments he was working on related to it."

"That makes sense. According to Dr. Throne, his family had gotten cancer lately, so that would explain his research into it. But that doesn't explain the genetics stuff. Where does that stuff come into play?"

"Our studies on that are unfinished at the moment, but it seems he might have been trying to use his prior research into lizard DNA in this case." Carlie shook her head. "It seems he was also trying to find a cure of his own condition as well."

"The Lizard," Garrett murmured. "That actually explain a lot of the damage at the house. That doesn't explain where his wife and son are, though."

"If they did die, it wasn't at the house."

"How do you figure?"

"There was no blood. If he killed them there, then there should be blood from the bodies."

Garrett sighed, then threw down a couple of bags onto the table.

Carlie picked up the bags and looked at then, then at Garrett, "What are those?"

"What do they look like?"

"Lizard scales."

"Check them for DNA. I have a bad feeling Connors lapsed into being the Lizard again."

*****S*****

At the _Daily Bugle_, Peter walked into the news room to see John Jonah Jameson once again ranting and arguing with Joe "Robbie" Robertson. He knew it was probably about the recent headline. Betty Brant was working on a story and Ben Urich was about to leave.

Just like old time, Peter thought with a smile. Seeing Ben about to run past him, he said, "Hey, Ben."

"Sorry, Peter, no time," Ben said. "I got a story I'm working on and I've gotta meet a cop about Curt Connors. I think you know him."

"I see," Peter said. "Well, I'll let you go, then." He then walked over to Betty.

Seeing Peter, Betty smiled. "Hey, Peter," she said. "What brings you by here?"

"I'm trying to see if there's a story I could work on," Peter replied, feeling ashamed.

"Your grant proposal got turned down, I take it?" Betty asked.

Peter nodded.

"Well, there have been a rash of burglaries recently at some labs," Betty said. "Each time, several chemicals and pieces of equipment are stolen. Several people who worked at those places that were there reported seeing a creature there."

"What . . . kind of creature?" Peter asked, already dreading the answer.

"The guards at Stark Enterprises reported that it looked like a man-lizard hybrid and wearing a lab coat," Betty replied. "I'm beginning to suspect that there's connection between it and Connors's disappearance, seeing as he does transform into the Lizard."

"Can I see what you have so far?" Peter asked.

"Why?" Betty asked. "You thinking of coming back to work here? I could use a photographer to take pictures of the scene."

"No, I don't think I'm coming back," Peter said. "But it is . . . important. I'm trying to find Connors and I think you're right about yours and Ben's stories being connected."

"Parker, what are you doing here?" a voice yelled out.

Peter looked to see Jonah stomp his way towards him. Smiling, Peter said, "Hey, Jonah. I was just—"

"You don't work here anymore, Parker!" Jonah yelled. "You're loitering. Why are you here? Have you could to bag for your job back? Well, do you have any blasted idea of where that wall-crawling piece of smile hid himself?"

"Leave him alone," Robbie said. "Peter was probably visiting old friends. Besides, you won—Spider-Man left the city. Why must you continue, especially with headlines that go too far?"

"It's not too far!" Jonah yelled. "He's realized he's not wanted here anymore! Now we must find out and help the police put him away!"

"Oh, I must've missed when asking 'coward or criminal' about a missing man in a headline wasn't too far!" Robbie commented. "He's gone! Just take it at that!"

"He's a menace!" Jonah yelled. "Both of them and the so-called Scarlet Spider were!"

"No, they weren't!" Robbie yelled back. "And crime rate is up since their disappearances! The city needs them."

"Ah, old times," Peter said with a fond smile. "Look, Betty, I'll just look in archives."

"You sure you don't wanna help?" Betty asked.

"It's not for me anymore, Betty," Peter said. "See you later."

With that, Peter made his way to the archives room, then sat down at a computer and started to look up the thefts that betty was talking about earlier. Stark Enterprises wasn't the first place that was hit by the creature—other labs, including those owned by OsCorp and Hammer Industries were also been hit by the creature. Each time, the creature took stuff, but made sure not to seriously hurt anyone.

_That doesn't make sense for the Lizard persona,_ Peter thought. _Normally, outside of family, he wouldn't hesitate to hurt anyone, but here when the two guards at Stark confronted him, he merely hit them, threw one onto the floor after getting shot and escaped. The Lizard persona would've gone out of his way to hurt them. What's going on?_

*****S*****

Tony Stark looked at the security footage about the robbery that happened, studying what he could. The two guards that were there were also present. Tony had read about the related break-ins that involved the creature, too. Several police officers were also present, including Detective William Lamont.

"It was huge," one of the guards said.

"We got that," Lamont said. "From the looks of it, it seems that Connors has lapsed into being the Lizard again."

"That's one of Spider-Man foes, though," Tony said. "Why would he be interested in one of my building?"

"He _was_," Lamont stated. "The web-head hasn't been seen for a few weeks now and that's allowed for some of his own foes to run amok with barely any control or anyone keeping them in check. Daredevil and some other are trying to fill the void, but it's clear the web-head's gone."

"I see," Tony murmured.

"We'll look into it, but we think he likely might be working alone and not conjunction with anyone else, Mister Stark," Lamont said, "if you're wondering if someone with a history of attacking your company is behind these break-ins, Mister Stark."

Grabbing his briefcase, Tony said, "Thanks, but I'm still gonna have Iron Man look into the case."

Leaving the room, Tony walked down a corridor, then out a door into a secluded area of the lab. Setting the briefcase down, Tony opened it, revealing his Iron Man armor inside. Pulling the armor on, Tony walked outside. Then he activated his jetboots and took to the air.

_Okay, Connors, wherever you are, prepare to deal with Iron Man,_ he thought.

To Be Continued . . .


	2. Mexican Standoff

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story. _Spider-Man_ and all related characters are the property of Marvel Comics, a division of the Disney Corporation. Ergo, no profit is being made off this story and it is being written solely for entertainment purposes.

* * *

It was night when Justin Hammer sat at his desk in his office at one of his New York facilities, looking to see Blacklash, Blizzard, Whirlwind, and a blonde woman in a black bodysuit with a red mask calling herself Hypnotia walking into his office. Hammer Industries had one of the laboratories that the Lizard broke into and Hammer was angry that someone did that. He was also worried that an investigation could lead into police discoveries some of Hammer's own illegal activities.

"I had to bribe two police officers to get this information," Hammer stated. "Recently, it seems that someone broke into labs all over the city, searching for chemicals and equipment. They suspect that it's the Lizard who committed these thefts."

"What's that gotta do with us?" Blacklash asked. "You usually hire us to go after one of your competitors."

"I want you to look into them," Hammer replied. "Those two I bribed were, of course, corrupt, but several aren't, including the lead detective on the case and this could cause the police to look into stuff I don't want them to look into, plus I don't like having stuff being stolen from me."

"Just you doing the stealing, huh?" Whirlwind asked sardonically.

Hammer glared at Whirlwind. "Yes. If he should get a clue and bust them, then I'm looking at prison time and you will probably be thrown back into jail, too. Starks' also reportedly here, so that means that Iron Man will get involved, too."

"So where do we start?" Blizzard asked.

"Since the Lizard likes the sewers, that would be a good place to start," Hammer replied. "There also other labs he's yet to strike at, but probably will. I want Connors found and I want him dead."

A thought came to Whirlwind. "And if Iron Man should get involved as well, like you suspect?" he asked.

Hammer smiled. Getting rid of Iron Man was a dream for Hammer for years. "I'll pay you to kill him, too. Money or upgrades, whichever you want. Either way, you'd be doing me and yourselves a favor, given the history most of you have with him yourselves." He then smiled. "So, do we have a deal?"

"Yeah," Blizzard replied.

* * *

Retirement

Chapter 2: Mexican Standoff

By Anicomicgeek

Rated T for Violence and Language

* * *

It was late when Spider-Man swung by the Parker house. He'd searched through sections of the city, looking for a sign of Curt, but there was no sign of him anywhere where Peter checked. Slipping into a bedroom, Spider-Man took off his mask, revealing Peter Parker's face. He walked over to a bed, then plopped down on it.

"Peter?" a voice called out.

"Huh?" Peter moaned. Looking up, he saw Mary Jane Watson-Parker standing in the doorway, covered by a towel. "Oh, hi, M.J. Sorry I'm late."

"You didn't find Connors, I take it?" Mary Jane asked. She then walked to the bed and sat down.

Peter sighed, then replied, "No, I didn't. I looked everywhere I could so far, but I couldn't find him; only signs of him having broken into various labs." He then got up, then took off the costume, leaving only an undershirt and a pair of boxers. "Johnny caught me and talked to me."

"What'd he have to say?" Mary Jane asked.

"He said I should get back in the costume full time, go back to being a hero," Peter replied as he sat back down on the bed.

Mary Jane became worried and a little bothered. "Peter—"

"I told him it was only temporary and that once I was done, I'm retiring for good," Peter added. "He brought up Reed and Susan, trying to tell me I could be Spider-Man and have a family, then said I was needed more than I knew."

"Are you thinking about . . . going back to being Spider-Man?" Mary Jane asked. "Please be honest."

"No," Peter lied.

Mary Jane didn't believe it. "You are."

"I have a daughter now. The temptation is there, yeah, but I'm resisting it. I put in my years, but they're over now." He then smiled. "You and May are my life now. Spider-Man is only back for a short time. Once I find Dr. Connors, he's gone for good."

"I'm just worried." Then Mary Jane remembered something. "Oh, TriCorp called. They wanna see you for an interview tomorrow."

"'Tomorrow?'" Peter asked. "I-I'm not sure I can make it there. I might have to reschedule for later. I'm pretty busy right—"

Mary Jane got annoyed. "Peter! You said you wanted to work there and like you said, Spider-Man is only temporary!"

"I know."

"Then go! The world won't end because you're not Spider-Man, you know."

Peter sighed. "You're right, of course."

"So you're going?"

"Yeah, I'm going tomorrow." Then he smiled. "I love you, you know."

Mary Jane smiled. "I love you, too."

Peter leaned in and kissed Mary Jane, deeply and full of passion and she returned the kiss as they leaned into the bed.

*****S*****

It was early morning when Iron Man landed in a penthouse of the building Tony Stark had bought, not having found the Lizard, but he did also investigate the sights of the robberies and it did seem to support Lamont's claims that the Lizard wasn't involved with anyone else. Taking off the Iron Man armor, Tony began to review security footage of the robbery in a laboratory set up in the penthouse. Helping him was the computer system HOMER—short for Heuristically Operative Matrix Emulation Rostrum.

"What is it that you hope to learn from this?" HOMER asked.

"Connors's MO," Tony replied. "Pull up any information you can about Curt Connors. I wanna learn about him before I deal with him."

"Yes, sir," HOMER said. Shortly, information began to show up on the computer screens. "Dr. Curtis Connors is a native of Florida. While serving as a field medic, his right arm was mutilated by shrapnel and doctors were forced to amputate it. This sparked his research into reptile DNA, studying how lizards were able to regenerate lost limbs."

"I know about that," Tony said. "He was hoping to figure out how to give humans a similar healing factor."

"Yes," HOMER said. "When he thought he'd figured it out, he injected himself with a serum, which did regenerate his lost arm, but at the cost of mutating him into the creature call the Lizard. Whenever he's turned to normal, he loses the arm, but he is prone into going into periods where he does become the Lizard."

"I know," Tony replied. "And from what I'm reading, it's suspected that Connors and the Lizard are separate personalities in the same body."

"Shall I contact Force Works?"

"No, I'm sure I can handle the Lizard and whoever Hammer hired, but do have them on standby, just in case. Meanwhile, I've got to figure where find Connors before anyone else does."

"You expect that someone might go to Connors or that Connors might strike again?" HOMER asked.

"Maybe. It doesn't hurt to be prepared for either case in any event."

"Shall I prepare any special armors for you?"

"No." Tony then shrugged. "I'm pretty sure I won't be needing them for this. However, since Hammer was hit, I am pretty sure he's gonna hire someone to deal with Connors."

"Shall I prepare a list of possible people he'll hire?"

"Yeah, though I already know a lot of the people he's hired before and will likely hire again."

HOMER then printed out a list of super villains' names. Grabbing the paper, Tony began to look them over, studying them. He did recognize most of the name from either news reports about other heroes or from his own experiences with some of them.

Tony looked up. "Pull up information about those I have not fought yet."

"On it, sir."

Tony looked as more information came up on the screens; he had to be prepared for anything.

*****S*****

It was later in the morning when Peter, dressed in a suit, walked into the TriCorp Research Center. He slept late and had to webswing as Spider-Man, but it made it on-time. He still worried about Curt, but right now, he had to try to put it in the back on his mind as focus on the job interview at hand. A woman of Asian descent stood in the lobby just as Peter walked in.

Looking around the lobby, Peter began to feel astonished about the idea of working at the building. _It looks good so far,_ Peter thought. _This is where I should be, where I hopefully will be._

"Peter Parker?" the woman asked.

"Yes?" Peter asked.

"I'm Terry Kwan," the woman replied. "I spoke to your wife on the phone. I'm sorry that I missed you."

"I was busy with something," Peter said.

"Sorry to call you in on such short notice, but we were interested in meeting you," Terry stated. "We've read some of your college papers. Liking the place so far?"

"Oh, yeah," Peter replied.

"You were highly recommended by a former employee of ours," Terry said.

This got Peter's attention. "Oh?"

"Curt Connors was the one who suggested you."

Peter was taken aback by this. "H-he w-worked here?"

"Yes, but we had to let him go. He kept showing up later and later for work, then just stopped coming in period. From what we understand, his personal life was currently troubled."

Peter groaned. _Great,_ he thought miserably. Suddenly, with this new piece of information, he began to think about what could happen now. _Chances are he could go after this place next At least it's a possible lead into helping me find him._

"Are you okay?" Terry asked.

"Y-yeah," Peter lied. "Sorry, I was just thinking about family."

"Oh?"

"I have a wife and newborn daughter at home." Peter smiled. "They and my aunt are my whole world, my life."

"Well, congratulations on the baby."

"Thanks."

"Ready to start the tour?"

Peter smiled. "Yeah, I am." So far, everything at TriCorp looked promising. Peter knew that he'd enjoy working there and felt it'd be the great job he had. He just hoped that things wouldn't take a turn for the worse.

*****S*****

Neil Garrett tramped into the forensics lab, a coffee cup in one hand. He was already in a bad mood after being told about the Lizard's recent burglaries at various laboratories and that meant he'd have to work with others on the case. The fact he'd been up woken up by a call from Carlie Cooper about his last visit didn't help, nor did the fact he had to deal with a throng of reporters. Walking into the lab, Garrett saw Carlie there, waiting for him and also drinking coffee.

"Why'd you wake me up for?" Garrett asked, rubbing his eyes. "You said you had something about those scales?"

"I did find DNA in them," Carlie replied. "So I ran some tests on them and I thought you might like to know the results."

"Let me guess," Garrett said. "Connors's DNA."

"Yes," Carlie replied. "Among other people's."

"Oh?" Garrett asked. "What are you talking about?"

Carlie walked over to a computer, then pulled a picture up, showing DNA test results. "This is from earlier test on Connors's DNA," she stated. She then pulled out a couple more images involving DNA tests. "These are from other tests. There's a combination of human and reptile DNA not unlike Connors's in these samples."

"Well, you did say that you suspect Connors's was doing work on genetics again," Garrett muttered, feeling dread well up in him. "So they're probably from some of his experiments. Long shot, I hope, but test them against any other DNA samples we have and keep me updated."

"Lamont came by earlier. He was looking for you."

""Yeah, he thinks Connors is behind the recent lab thefts," Garrett grumbled. "The Captain said to cooperate with him."

"You'd listen to you," a voice called out. Garrett spun around to see William Lamont walk in.

"This is my case," Garrett stated.

"And it looks like your case is related to my case," Lamont said. "Like it or not, the captain told us both to cooperate and we're on the same trail."

"Fine," Garrett muttered. "But you're buying coffee."

*****S*****

Peter's tour of TriCorp had finished and he was amazed by what he saw on the place. Terry has told him of the history of TriCorp—how a man named Quentin Chase III set it up with the foundation with a trust fund that was set up—and about how the complex was set up. It had everything any scientist could want and then some, including restaurants, a health club, a library, and a movie theater. Peter knew he'd like it here if he got the job.

But in the back of his head, Peter kept thinking about his dilemma about his family and being Spider-Man, and the whereabouts of Curt Connors. He knew Terry may have noticed that he was distracted, but he couldn't help it. He just hoped she wrote it off as being amazed about the place.

"Are you okay?" Terry asked.

"Yeah, I-I was just amazed by this place is all," Peter replied, trying his best to sound astounded and hide the thoughts in his head. He smiled. "Sorry. It's just . . . so much to take in. I feel like I'm in Santa's workshop or Willie Wonka's factory or something."

Terry smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry about it. We all felt the same way when we started to work here, too. Let me show you to the team you'd be working with before you sit down with Doctor Twaki."

"Team?" Peter asked, confused.

"We do encourage independent research, but grouping some of our researchers with diverse fields of study into cells can and has produced some rather astonishing results in the past. Ready to see the team?"

Peter shrugged. "As ready as I'm gonna be." Just then, Peter's spider-sense went off. Not long thereafter, an alarm sounded and immediately, he was dreading what they meant. "What was that?"

"I don't know," Terry replied, concerned. Seeing a guard run by, she asked, "What's going on?"

"Someone broke into a lab," the guard replied. "Just stay here. We're on it."

_A lab?_ Peter thought. _What are the chances that Dr. Connors would be here right now?_ He sighed. _I should check it out, because given my luck, it probably _is_ Dr. Connors._ "Stay here."

"Where are you going?" Terry asked.

"To get some help," Peter replied as he ran. "It could be part of the rash of lab thefts."

Suddenly, seven guards ran down a corridor, guns ready. They turned and ran into a lab to see a figure rummaging throughout shelves and tables, looking for something. Approaching carefully, the guard pointed their guns at the figure. Then they looked to see something that caught them by surprise.

The figure had a tail.

Turning to face the guards, the figure revealing itself—the Lizard. Hissing, the Lizard whipped his tail around and sent two guards crashing over tables and the third sliding into a wall. The Lizard turned around to look at the guards, growling. The guards began to fire, but with each shot, the Lizard would just recover and heal.

Despite all of this, the Curt Connors persona remained in control.

"Leave me alone!" Curt yelled. "This doesn't concern any of you!" He then backhanded a guard, knocking him down.

"Oh, I don't know," a voice called out. "I think it concerns me, Doctor."

Curt spun around to see Spider-Man standing behind him. "You?" Curt hissed. "So . . . you're not dead after all, Spider-Man."

"So it is true," Spider-Man said. "What happened to your family?"

"That doesn't concern you!" Curt roared, then lunged at Spider-Man tackling him out of a window.

On the fall down, Curt held a viselike grip on Spider-Man. Hoping to break free, Spider-Man fired a webline and caught a building, causing the line to snap taunt and the Lizard's grip to go slack. Seeing the Lizard fall, Spider-Man fired another webline, causing the Lizard on his back and stopping his fall.

"Okay, Doctor, calm down," Spider-Man said sympathetically, "and tell me what's going on. I'm trying to help you here. Where is your family?"

"It's all my fault!" Curt began. "What happened to them is all my fault, my mess to clean up."

"Doctor?" Spider-Man asked, concerned. "What's your fault?"

"It doesn't concern you," Curt said, then used his claw to sever the line.

"No!" Spider-Man yelled and let go of the webline, firing another one to swing down and catch Curt, but it wasn't needed. Curt landed on the roof on a parked car, smashing the roof in and causing the car alarm to go off, but Curt wasn't hurt. Leaping off the car, Curt began to walk towards a manhole, but a blast tore through the air and slammed into him, sending into a wall of a building.

"Sorry, Doctor, but you're not going anywhere expect to a jail cell," a voice called out. Looking both Curt and Spider-Man saw the source of the voice—Iron Man, hovering in the air, repulsors ready to fire again.

"Iron Man, what brings you here?" Spider-Man asked, swinging onto the wall and clinging to it.

"Connors is wanted for the disappearance of his family," Iron Man replied, "and for breaking into several labs, including one of my boss's. By the way, it's good to see you're back and you've got this handled, Spider-Man."

"It's only temporary," Spider-Man stated. "I was concerned for Connors. I'll handle it."

"Leave me alone, both of you!" Curt yelled. "It's my fault what happened to my family and it's me who got to make things right." Then he tried to run for the manhole again

Again, Iron Man stopped him, this time by flying towards him and catching him, then slamming him into a wall. "Sorry, Doctor, but you're a criminal," Iron Man stated, "and thus, you're coming with me. You need to pay for your crimes."

Spider-Man leapt off the wall, then fired a webline and swung down, catching Iron Man by surprise and kicking him off Curt. Firing a blob of webbing, Spider-Man managed to cover up Iron Man's visor, effectively blinding him. However, Iron Man managed to grab the webbing and rip it off, clearing his sight.

Iron Man then raised his hand and fired a repulsor blast. But Spider-Man was able to leap to the side in time, barely avoiding the blast.

_Great, Parker, just great,_ Spider-Man thought sardonically. _All you did was just make him mad. I was really hoping to avoid a hero-versus-hero match. Well, if it keeps him off Dr. Connors for a while and gives me a chance to go after him later without interruptions, I'll take it._

Iron Man fired another blast and again, Spider-Man barely managed to avoid it. Spider-Man then fired webbing at Iron Man's repulsor, cogging it, but Iron Man raised the other repulsor and fired, and Spider-Man still managed to avoid the blast and leapt over to Curt, getting between him and Iron Man.

"Listen, Spider-Man, friend of yours or not, Connors has gone off the deep end and he has to be stopped," Iron Man stated. "Don't get in my way or you will regret it."

"Sorry, Iron Man, but that's not gonna happen," Spider-Man retorted, fingers hovering over the trigger of his web-shooters. "Let me go after him. I know him."

"You should've done that earlier," Iron Man stated, ripping the webbing off the clogged repulsor. "Just where were you, anyway? This could've been avoided if you'd been out, doing your job. But no, you decided to go god knows where, leaving the city to descend into—"

"As I told Johnny Storm, I retired," Spider-Man said. "My reasons for doing so are personal, as in none of your business, Shellhead."

"You have an obligation to this city!" Iron Man yelled. "You have to do the right thing and help me stop Connors before someone gets killed!"

"I put in my years and now my 'obligation' is over!" Spider-Man yelled back. "Once Connors's family is found, I'll hanging the tights back up!"

"No, your duty is not over, so you either stop him or if you really believe it is over, then get out of the way so I can."

"Sorry, I can't do that." Spider-Man then fired webbing again at Iron Man, but Iron Man canceled it out with a repulsor blast.

Nearby, four figures, clad in trench coats, walked towards the building, noticing the chaos going on. Guards were running around, people were running from the building, and sirens could be heard approaching as Iron Man and Spider-Man resumed their fight. One of the figures noticing Curt again walking towards a manhole and took out two specialized whips, then pressed a buttons, causing the whips to cackle with energy. The figure swung and cracking the whip, causing Curt to step back.

"Huh?" Iron Man and turned to face the figures. Then he looked at the whips. "I knew Hammer was gonna try something."

The figure wielding the whips then took off his trench coat, revealing himself to be Blacklash. The other figures followed suit, revealing themselves to be Blizzard, Hypnotia, and Whirlwind. Blacklash then cracked his whips again, causing Curt to step back. Blacklash then swung one of his whip and wrapped around Curt's neck. Curt grabbed the whip, trying to free himself, but his neck and hands were burning.

"Three for the price of one," Blacklash chortled. "The Lizard, Iron Man, and the no longer-missing Spider-Man." He then tried to pull Curt towards him. "Hammer's paying good money to bring you your hide, Connors."

Iron Man then fired his repulsor and struck Blacklash, causing him to stagger and his whip's grip on Curt to go slack, letting go of him. Iron Man then flew towards Blacklash and tackled him. Blizzard then brought his hands up, preparing to fire, but Iron Man fired his repulsor, sending him staggering, too.

Spider-Man noticed Whirlwind spinning around, picking up stuff and blowing them around, sending then crashing into stuff and other buildings. Firing webbing, Spider-Man managed to get lucky and snagged one of Whirlwind's legs, causing him to wrap himself up in webbing and stop. Spider-Man's spider-sense then went off and he quickly dodged, managing to avoid a freeze blast.

Turning, Spider-Man found Blizzard preparing to fire another freeze blast. Firing a webline, Spider-Man swung around and kicked Blizzard into a wall. Blizzard spun around and prepared to fire again, but Spider-Man fired webbing and stuck Blizzard's arm to the wall. Blizzard then raised up his other hand to fire a blast, but Spider-Man again fired webbing and stuck the other arm onto the wall.

Iron Man avoided one of Blacklash's whips, then fired a repulsor blast, sending Blacklash into a car. Blacklash got up and looked to see a police car speeding up, then smiled and walked over to the car, whips ready. As he noticed the car turn to avoiding hitting him, Blacklash lashed out at the police car with his whip, slicing through the chassis and sending the police car flying into the air.

Iron Man leapt and up and fired his jetboots, going after the police car and catching it. He safely set it down onto the ground and looked to see that the officers were injured, but otherwise okay. Then he got up and flew back towards Blacklash, but Blacklash swung his whip and struck Iron Man in the back, sending him crashing onto the ground.

Hypnotia noticed Curt running a manhole and smiled as her eyes glowed yellow. "That's right," she said. "Listen to me. Obey me."

Curt clutched his head and groaned, falling onto his knees. "No!" he roared. "Leave me alone! Get out of my head!"

"No," Hypnotia said. "Kill Iron Man and Spider-Man. You know you want to."

"Leave me alone!" Curt groaned.

"Do it!" Hypnotia said.

Curt got up, then ran towards Spider-Man with the intend to kill him, but this set off Spider-Man's spider sense and he leapt into the air, barely being missed by Curt's claws. Kicking Curt in the back Spider-Man sent him crashing through a window. However, Curt spun around and leapt out of the window.

"Dr. Connors, why are you acting like this?" Spider-Man asked, concerned about Curt's sudden change in behavior. "Curt?" He then noticed that Curt's eyes suddenly looked glazed over as if he wasn't in control.

*****S*****

At the Parker house, Mary Jane was sitting on the couch, nursing baby May and watching the TV. She knew that Peter wanted the job at the TriCorp complex and hoped that he did get it for the sake of their family. The money it'd bring in and would them support May through her life as much as they'd want. She smiled at the thought of giving May what her and Peter didn't have.

Just then, Peter's aunt and the baby's namesake, May Parker, walked into the room. "I take it Peter's at his interview?" she asked.

"Yes," Mary Jane replied. "It's been his dream to have a job like this and it'd help us in raising little May."

Aunt May smiled. "Uncle Ben and I always wished we could've been able to give Peter more than we had and working at a place like that was always Peter's dream," she said. "After the grant proposal fell through, I really hope he's gets this job."

"So do I," Mary Jane said.

Suddenly, a news flash appeared on the screen. Mary Jane began to get worried about what it was about.

A reporter appeared on the screen. "This just in: a fight between superpowers has reportedly broken out at the TriCorp Research Complex," the reporter said. "The battle involves Blacklash, Whirlwind, Blizzard, the Lizard, a blond woman in a black suit, Iron Man, and amazingly, the thought-missing Spider-Man. Police are arriving on the scene, but it seems to do doing nothing to stop the villains involved."

Mary Jane and Aunt May felt her hearts sink as the news cut to footage from a helicopter over the screen, showing the battle, including the Lizard fighting Spider-Man.

"Peter's down there!" Aunt May said. "I-I gotta get ahold of him, make sure he's okay!" With that, she raced to the phone, hoping to get ahold of Peter.

"Peter, please don't get yourself killed," Mary Jane whispered worriedly.

*****S*****

Spider-Man managed to kick the Lizard off him, then fired webbing at Curt, hoping that it'd keep him occupied for a few moments. But it didn't work and Curt freed himself. Spider-Man sidestepped as Curt lunged at him. Spider-Man then to see Hypnotia speaking and her eyes glowing.

_Okay, I think she's got Doctor Connors under mind control,_ Spider-Man thought. _Now let's shut her up and free Dr. Connors._

"Kill the Spider-Man," Hypnotia whispered. "Gut him like a fi—"

Spider-Man fired webbing at Hypnotia's mouth, then fired webbing and wrapped her up in it. "Okay, lady, it's quiet time now," Spider-Man quipped.

Now freed from Hypnotia's control, Curt shook his head, groaning and his eyes once again showing his personality. "What happened?" he asked.

"It's okay now," Spider-Man said. "Now where are Martha and Billy, Dr. Connors?"

"Safe," Curt replied. "That's all you need to know."

"Bull," Spider-Man said. "They're missing and the police suspect that you did something that got them kidnapped or killed. Now, could you please tell me where they are?"

"No," Curt replied. "What happened as my fault. They're my responsibility."

"What did happen?" Spider-Man asked.

Blizzard managed to touch the webbing that bound him to the wall and freeze it, making it brittle. Then he struggled against the webbing and thanks to the newly-induced brittleness of the webbing, broke free. Blizzard then looked to see Curt tried to go after the manhole and firing a freeze blast at Curt, causing Curt to stagger and shudder from the cold. Blizzard saw this and fired another blast.

Spider-Man turned to see Blizzard. "What are you doing?" he angrily asked.

Blizzard smiled and start to fire a continuous blast at Curt. "If I recall science, lizard are cold-blooded and react to the temperature. If I freeze him, then he'll go to sleep and if I turn him into an ice cube, he'll be a Lizard-sicle and die."

Spider-Man lunged at Blizzard and punched him in the stomach, then followed through with an uppercut to his jaw, causing Blizzard to stop the blast. Spider-Man then grabbed Blizzard and flung him into a wall and fired webbing, causing him to stick to the wall. As Blizzard tried to freeze the webbing again, Spider-Man grabbed his gloves and tore them off, disabling the costume's ability to freeze stuff.

"Now, Dr. Connors, where were we?" Spider-Man asked as he turned around to see Curt. But he saw Curt's tail and tail of the coat as he entered the recently-opened manhole. Taking out a spider tracer, he flung it at Curt and it stuck itself on the coat. "Sorry, Doctor, but you do need help."

Iron Man fired his repulsors at Blacklash, causing him to stagger. Blacklash, however, smiled and swung one of his whips, wrapping it around Iron Man's neck, but Iron Man's armor protected him to the worst of the effects. Cracking his other whip, Blacklash, managed to damage the shoulder section of Iron Man's armor and causing Iron Man to collapse onto his knees.

"I've always wanted this, Iron Man," Blacklash grinned. "You kneeling before me before you die, and Hammer will pay me good money to kill you." Blacklash then lashed out with his whip again, striking Iron Man in the chest.

"So Hammer did hire you," Iron Man groaned. Static started to appear on his HUD.

"Sir, I'm not sure that our armor can take much more of this," HOMER interjected. "I would advise in ending the battle quickly before—"

"You don't say," Iron Man groaned sarcastically. Then he grabbed the whip around his neck and slowly rose up. "You're not gonna win, Scarlotti."

"What are you gonna do?" Blacklash asked, amused.

Iron Man pulled on the whip, causing Blacklash to fly towards him and the whip's grasp on him to loose. Iron Man then punched Blacklash, causing him to fall onto the ground and to let go off his whips. Iron Man then pulled his whip off the neck and stomp on the handle, destroying it.

Grabbing the surviving whip, Blacklash smiled and said, "I'm not done yet."

"Yes, you are," Iron Man said as he fired a repulsor blast, knocking the whip out of his hand. Then he fired another repulsor blast at the whip, destroying it. Looking around, he asked, "Where did Connors go?"

"He escaped during the fight," Spider-Man replied, "but don't worry—I managed to put a tracer on him. I should be able to find him, though."

"Good," Iron Man said. "I have to go back to base for repairs to my armor, but I will be back to find him and when I do, I will turn him in."

Spider-Man sighed as Iron Man flew off, then looked around to see the damage the battle caused. Windows are broken, cars were smashed and their car alarms were blaring, and the pavements and walls were cracked and, in some areas, had holes broke into them. Seeing police cars pull up, Spider-Man leapt into the air and fired a webline.

"I should change and get back to Terry, make sure she's okay," he said to himself as he swung off.

"Peter?" Terry asked as she walked out of the building. "Peter, where are you? Are you okay?" She looked around, but she couldn't find Peter anywhere. Seeing a police officer, she asked, "Have you see a man with brown hair, wearing a suit anywhere?"

"Could you be more specific?" the officer asked.

"Terry?" a voice called out.

Terry turned to see Peter walking around. "Peter!" she said and ran over to him. "I'm glad you're okay. D-did you get help?"

"Well—" Peter began.

A balding man in a suit walked over to them and asked, "Terry, are you okay?"

Terry nodded and said, "Yes, Doctor Twaki, I'm fine." Gesturing to Peter, she added, "This is Peter Parker." Gesturing to the man, she said, "Peter, this is Dr. Ted Twaki, the director of TriCorp."

"So you're the young man that Dr. Connors recommended," Ted said, holding his hand out.

_That's the man from Connors answering machine,_ Peter thought. Taking Ted's hand, he shook it and said, "A pleasure, sir. I-I'm sorry about what happened."

"It wasn't your fault," Ted stated. "Where were you when all of this was going on?"

"I was trying to get help, so I tried to flag down a superhero," Peter replied nervously. "I think it backfired. I didn't expect this." Then Peter slapped himself in the forehead. _Oh, crap._

"I see," Ted said. "Well, Peter, this might be a bad time to tell you this, but . . ."

_I'm not gonna get it,_ Peter thought, feeling defeated. _Well, that was one of the best job I could've gotten, and I blew it big time_

". . . but this could set us back for a little while as we repair the facility," Ted finished. "There was some damage done to the equipment and the building. We will stay in touch, though, Mr. Parker."

_Meaning "Sorry, son, but we're not hiring you,"_ Peter thought. Then he cell phone rang. Answering it, he said, "Yes, Peter here."

"Peter!" Mary Jane yelled from the other end, sounding worried. "Thank God! Aunt May and I have been trying to call you! Are you okay?"

"Outside of losing track of Dr. Connors and not getting the job, yeah, I'm fine," Peter replied, feeling dejected.

Mary Jane gave a sigh of relief, then said, "I'm so glad you're okay." Then she gave another sigh. "I was so worried about you."

Peter smiled and said, "I know."

"I'm sorry you didn't get the job," Mary Jane said sympathetically. "I knew how much you were looking forward to it."

"It would've been nice," Peter said, shoulders slumped in defeat. "It would've meant more money for the family."

"So what now?" Mary Jane asked.

"I'm gonna go swing by the house and get changed into something casual before going back out. Then I'm going after Dr. Connors. I put a spider tracer on him during the battle, so I should be able to find him. By the way, where is Aunt May?"

"On the couch. After a while of not getting ahold of you, I asked her to take a break and that I'd call you."

"Well, tell her I'm safe and okay. I'll see you later, M.J. Love you."

"Love you, too," Mary Jane said, concerned creeping back into her voice.

*****S*****

Somewhere in the sewers, Curt ran into a tunnel, his healing factor having already healed most of the injuries he suffered. Slipping into another tunnel, he began to calm down and slow himself down, walking and letting himself feel what he felt about his recent outing—defeat and exhaustion. As he made his way to an old pumping station, which hasn't been used by the city for years, he began to curse himself for his recent actions.

_If I haven't did what I did to help them, then I wouldn't have to do this,_ he thought. _But then that'd mean losing my family. All of this is because I couldn't accept reality, couldn't come to terms with their cancer. I should've tried, but I didn't. The path to hell is paved with good intention, no matter if you're the one having the good intentions or, in some case, the one's who'd benefit most._

Curt entered the pumping station. Curt figured that'd be a good place to hide, to rest during his outings to the outside. Sitting in the middle of the room was the makeshift lab he'd set up.

Curt slumped on the floor, resting. He turned to see two Lizard-like creatures similar to him walk out. One of them was a young boy, wearing torn pajamas and the other was distinctly a woman also wearing torn clothes. A pang of guilt hit Curt as they walked up to him.

Curt closed his eyes, feeling tears well up. "I failed again," he whispered.

"Curt," the female creature said.

"I tried to cure you both," Curt said, "but in my efforts to save your lives, I didn't think to consider that any version of my original serum would still mutate anyone into a Lizard-like creature like me. I should've term to come to terms with what was going on." He balled his hand up into a fist and slammed it onto the floor. "Instead, I turned you both into freaks."

The two creatures hugged Curt.

"I'll fix this," Curt whispered. "I'll fix us all."

To Be Continued . . .


	3. He's Back

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story. _Spider-Man_ and all related characters are the property of Marvel Comics, a division of the Disney Corporation. Ergo, no profit is being made off this story and it is being written solely for entertainment purposes.

* * *

Five Weeks Ago

In his basement, Dr. Curt Connors was working on a serum, bags under his eyes and sweat on his brow. It was becoming more and more clear that the news of Martha and Billy having cancer was taking its toll on him. It drove him to the point of trying to use his old research to find a way to cure them. He'd hoped that by using a less-extreme version of his serum that he could be able to cure the cancer without mutating them into Lizard-like creatures.

Injecting a serum into a Petri dish with a sample on it, he looked into a microscope and saw the lizard-human hybrid serum attack at cancer cell in the sample—and working. Curt allowed himself to smile. For months, he'd been working late at night, sacrificing hours of sleep and meals in his studies for a cure. He'd even started letting his work at his job slip by nor reporting for work. Now, it seems the work was finally paying off.

"Curt?" a weak and exhausted voice called out. "It's late."

Curt looked to see his wife, Martha, standing in the door way, holding a cane. She was looking withered and frail, her face thin and weathered. It pained Curt to see her like that, the results of the cancer and the chemotherapy taking their toll on her.

"I-I think I figured it out," Curt stated.

"It's three o'clock in the morning, Curt," Martha said. "You need your rest. You've been in your lab for God knows how many hours every night. You barely eat, you barely sleep, and now you've practically stopped going into work."

"I'm fine," Curt said. "And now you and Billy will be, too! I think I figured it out."

"Curt, go to bed."

"But—"

"Your cure for cancer will be here tomorrow."

Curt nodded. "Okay, but you and Billy will live now."

Martha grew concerned. "You sure there's no side effects?"

"I tried to use less reptile DNA than in the serum that made me the Lizard. But I need test subject and Dr. Twaki told me he wouldn't approve of human testing yet."

"I'll do it."

Curt shook his head. "No, I can't use you. The risk is—"

"Too much? Billy and I are terminal, honey—we're going to die. It's not exactly like Billy and I have any other hope, now do we?"

Curt was still unsure about this. "You sure you want to do this?"

Martha nodded. "Yes."

Curt has hesitant. "I-I'll inject you, then."

"Tomorrow," Martha said, concerned. "You need sleep."

Curt tired to stifle a yawn, but failed. "All right. I can rest and relax. After all, I did find a cure."

Neither Curt nor Martha knew how their world was going to change.

* * *

Retirement

Chapter 3: He's Back

By Anicomicgeek

Rated T for Violence and Language

* * *

Now

Tony Stark stood in his lab, fixing the Iron Man armor from damage it suffered during the battle at TriCorp. The computer was playing classic rock and roll music, while the monitors of his computer were news reports about the battle. Some of them talking about what happened and the damage the building received, while others were talking about Curt Connors. On one screen, John Jonah Jameson was ranting about the apparent return of Spider-Man.

"The criminals involved in the attack on TriCorp have been identified as Donnie Gill, a.k.a. Blizzard; Mark Scarlotti, a.k.a. Blacklash; David Cannon, a.k.a. Whirlwind, and Hypnotia, real name unknown," a reporter on one of the monitors said. "It is currently unknown why they attacked and they aren't talking, but one of the other participants of the battle is sought for questioning—Dr. Curt Connors, the man known as the Lizard, in regards to the disappearance of his wife and son."

"Now he shows himself!" Jonah yelled. "I knew that Spider-Man was still in town, but no one believed me, saying I had ran him off. Well, look now—he's back! It's high time the police went after him for what he's done to this whole . . ."

"HOMER, mute the one with Jameson," Tony said, not looking up from his armor.

"Yes, Mr. Stark," HOMER said and did just as Tony asked.

"Thank you," Tony said, then got up and wiped his brow. "Not a prefect repair job, but I was able to bypass some of the still-damaged section to get things operating. It should do until I confront Hammer and Connors. Once they're dealt with, I can repair the damage more thoroughly."

"I would advise being careful," HOMER said. "The Lizard is reportedly a very dangerous creature. If your armor should get damaged during the battle—"

"I know," Tony said as began to don the armor again, "but I have to do it. It will hopefully lead to the whereabouts of Connors's family."

"And Spider-Man?" HOMER asked.

"Hopefully, he's realized that Connors's has to go to jail," Tony stated as he put the helmet on, completing the look. Then he walked over to a section of the lab with a tube in the ceiling. Looking up to see the access way open, he activated his jetboots and flew out of the tube.

*****S*****

It was sunset when Spider-Man swung down into an alleyway, following the signal of the spider-tracer he put on Curt during the fight at TriCorp. After getting a change of casual clothes to go by the Bugle later and receiving hugs from both Mary Jane and Aunt May, as well as hearing them both say they're glad he was okay, he went back out. After a while, he changed into his costume and put his clothes somewhere safe near the house, then resumed his search.

Storm clouds were brewing in the skies as he landed, then walked over to the manhole. He was about to open it when a voice asked, "Just what the hell do you think you're doing, Peter?"

Spider-Man whirled around to find Daredevil behind him, glaring at him and arms crossed over his chest. "Oh, hi, Matt," Spider-Man said addressed Daredevil by his real name of Matt Murdock. "I was just—"

"You have a family now," Daredevil injected, scowling. "You should putting them first above everyone else."

Spider-Man sighed. "You're vocalizing thoughts I have that M.J. also vocalized," he stated. "I don't know what to do after this, Matt. I told others—and myself—that I'm once I find Dr. Connors and help him, I'm retiring for good."

"I take it you're conflicted?" Daredevil asked.

Spider-Man nodded. "Yeah, Johnny Storm and Iron Man vocalized other thoughts I had—that the city does need me and that I shouldn't retire from being Spider-Man, that I'm abandoning the responsibility I have to the city."

Daredevil smirked. "The same Johnny Storm who's a moronic womanizer and prankster, and the same Iron Man who's the bodyguard for Tony Stark, a known womanizer? You're seriously thinking of listening to them?"

Spider-Man sighed. "Johnny did bring up Reed and Sue."

"You're not Reed and Sue Richards."

"I told him that. They live in a skyscraper with top of the line security; I live in a house with the average security such a house has. I'm not them, no matter how much I wish that were the case." He sighed again. "What would you do if you were me, Matt?"

"Go back home, take off the costume, then forget all about this and look to the future with your family." Daredevil sighed. "But then, I'm not you or in your place."

"That's right—you're still single and not a father."

Daredevil sighed. "Look, whether you decide to retire for good or put the costume back on, it's your choice and I'm going to respect that, but I do advise about thinking about your family before you decide."

Just as it started to rain, Spider-Man looked up and sighed. "I am. Believe me, I am." Spider-Man then walked over to the manhole and lifted the cover off. "Thanks, Matt."

"No problem."

Spider-Man then leapt into the manhole.

*****S*****

Justin Hammer looked out the window to see rain poured as news reports on the TVs in his office droned on about the latest news stories. Some of the reports were talking about what happened at TriCorp, others were talking about the stock market and how it was affected by what happened, a few more were talking about Curt Connors and hid life, and other were talking about completely unrelated events.

Hammer heard the doors swing open, but didn't look back nor did he feel the need to. He had a good idea of who it was that walked into the office. "What do you want?" he asked,

Iron Man glared at Hammer. "Scarlotti and your other lackeys aren't talking to the police, but Scarlotti did mention you to me when he thought he had me on the ropes. You hired Scarlotti, Cannon, Gill, and that woman to go after Curt Connors," he replied. "I want to know why. Was it because he broke into one of your labs?"

"He stole some important chemicals from one of them, yes," Hammer replied. "I needed them for a project."

"Which, like several others you've engaged in, is probably illegal," Iron Man stated. "And you didn't want the police looking into what you were doing, did you? Of course, by now, you probably already destroyed the evidence just in case they come by."

Hammer still didn't look at him. "Shouldn't you be out, looking for Dr. Connors? He is very dangerous in that form, you know."

"I'll look for him and I'll bring him to justice, but one day, I will bring you down, Hammer."

Hammer finally turned to look at Iron Man with an amused smirk on his face. "You'll try, but you'll fail like before."

"We'll see. Things do change, you know." Iron Man turned and walked away.

*****S*****

In the sewers, Spider-Man crawled on the ceiling of the tunnels, looking for Curt and following the signal of his spider-tracer. In the months of his retirement, he'd managed to forget how bad the sewers smelled when you had to deal with them, so it served as a refresher course. Making his way through the tunnels, he noticed the door to an old pumping station and realized that the trail ended there.

Leaping down onto the walkway, Spider-Man looked at the door and sighed. _All right, Dr. Connors, I believe I'll get my answers here,_ he thought.

*****S*****

In the pumping station he'd been working in, Curt Connors still sat on the floor, brooding about what'd happened. The two creatures that tried to comfort him while lying on the floor, asleep. Looking at a flap on his coat, he noticed an odd indentation. Flipping it over, he looked to see a spider-tracer on his coat. Rising quickly to his feet, he tried to reach the other creatures in time, but suddenly the door came off the hinges with enough force to knock it down.

"Curt?" the female creature called out as she and the young male awoke.

"Run!" Curt yelled. Both of you, run!"

"But—" the young male began.

"I said go!" Curt roared. "Hurry, before they capture you!"

Just as the creatures ran to hide, Curt spun around to find Spider-Man standing in the doorway. Glaring at Spider-Man, Curt hissed, "I told you to leave me alone! Why won't you?"

"Well, let's see—your family is missing, you're the Lizard, and you've broken into several labs in the past few weeks, Doctor," Spider-Man said. "Where is your family?"

"That's my business!" Curt said, then ran up to Spider-Man. He lunged at Spider-Man, tacking him and sending them. They both landed into the water in the tunnel. "This wasn't any of your business!"

Spider-Man kicked Curt off, then punched him in the stomach, causing him to stagger. As Curt tried to recover, Spider-Man fired a webline at his leg, then tugged on it, sending him crashing into the water again. Curt spun around and got back to his feet, then swiped at the webline with his claws, severing it and Spider-Man got into a fighting stance.

"I don't wanna fight you, Doctor," Spider-Man said, desperate to help Curt.

Curt took a swipe at Spider-Man, but Spider-Man leapt back and avoided his claws. Curt took around swipe, but again Spider-Man managed to avoid the claws. Spinning around, Curt swung at Spider-Man with his tail and slammed into him, sending Spider-Man crashing into a wall. The impact caused several steam pipes to rupture and fill the area with steam.

Spider-Man walked out to see the coattails on Curt's coat and Curt's tail whip around a corner. Running after him, Spider-Man looked to see Lizard running towards a tunnel. Racing after him, Spider-Man could see that Curt was running towards a grate and fired two webline. The webline snaked past Curt's head and attached themselves to the grate.

Spinning around, Curt snarled, "If those were supposed to hit me, they missed!"

"No," Spider-Man replied honestly, "they served their purpose, which was to get your attention. Now talk to me."

"No," Curt said as he kicked Spider-Man and knocked him down. Running towards the grate, Curt bodyslammed into the grate a two times as Spider-Man got up. Upon the third time, the grate was knocked down and Curt ran out.

Running out of the tunnel, Spider-Man found himself in another tunnel, but this one was a subway tunnel. Seeing Curt, Spider-Man fired a webline and began to swing after him. As the chase continued, it began clear to Spider-Man that he had to stop it before it led into a subway station. Swinging down, Spider-Man managed to kick Curt in the back and sent him crashing into a wall.

"End of the line, Dr. Connors," Spider-Man said as he landed and walked towards Curt. "Now, talk to me or you're going to jail. The cops are after you, Iron Man's after you, and some of the labs are stole from are probably after you."

Curt looked at Spider-Man as he got up. "You don't understand!" he yelled.

"Then tell me so I can," Spider-Man stated.

Curt didn't reply vocally, but instead swung his tail downward. Spider-Man quickly sidestepped out of the way and dodged the tail. That was enough time for Curt to resume running. Spider-Man let out an annoyed groan as he leapt up and fired a webline, resuming swinging after Curt.

*****S*****

Elsewhere, the two creatures that were with Curt were walking away from the pumping station, both solemn over what was going on. They knew that Curt didn't want this to happen, but now that it did, they had to find a new hiding spot.

The young male creature looked up to the female and asked, "Where's he going?"

"He has to lead Spider-Man away," the female replied.

"But I thought Spider-Man's our friend," the young male said.

"He is," the female replied. "But your dad feels that it's his responsibility to help us and not anyone else."

"Dad was just trying to help us!"

"I know. Believe me, I know, and in a way he did, but he didn't want us to be like him and it's eating at him that we are now."

"But . . . Spider-Man could hurt Dad!" the young male then turned around and ran off.

"Don't!" The female reached for the young male, but it was too late to stop him, so she ran after him.

*****S*****

Spider-Man gave out a sigh as Curt ran into a subway station. People began to run away as Curt leap onto a platform and growl. Sighing, Spider-Man swung down and kicked him, sending him skidding onto the floor. Spider-Man fired firing webbing at Curt, sticking him onto the floor.

As people ran off, Spider-Man slammed his foot onto Curt's chest and said, "All right, talk, Doctor."

Curt managed to break free on the webbing and swiped at Spider-Man, cutting his arm. Spider-Man kicked his foot out and stuck Curt in the stomach. Following through, he grabbed Curt's leg, then spun around, slamming Curt through a couple to pillars, then threw him onto the floor.

"That's enough, Doctor," Spider-Man said. "You've left me with no choice but to turn you in. Just tell me where your family is."

"I won't go!" Curt. He then swung with his tail, but Spider-Man leapt out of the Spider-Man.

*****S*****

Iron Man flew over New York City, trying to ignore the sounds of raindrops hitting his armor. He was looking for Dr. Connors, hoping that he'd show himself again, but so far, his search has yelled no results. He just hoped that Hammer wouldn't send someone after Connors as, aside from the Lizard persona, Curt Connors seemed to be a good man up until recently. A part of Iron Man hoped Connors still was.

HOMER suddenly appeared on his visor. Iron Man groaned and asked, "Yes, HOMER?"

"I have received reports about a fight in a subway station near Hell's Kitchen," HOMER replied. "It appears that Spider-Man is fighting the Lizard at the subway station."

"All right, I'm heading over there," Iron Man stated.

"But you don't know where the station is," HOMER began.

"I have a feeling that I'm going to find out," Iron Man said. "After all, I'll known by the batches of people running out or if the Lizard runs out of there."

"It's on 34th Street, Mr. Stark," HOMER stated.

"Thank you," Iron Man said as he jetted off.

*****S*****

Spider-Man managed to avoid another swipe from Curt as they continued to fight. By this time, most of the station was cleared out and, outside of trains occasionally speeding by, was more or less empty outside of the two combatants. Spider-Man could feel exhaustion kicking in from the day's events, but Curt was clearly feeling worse for wear.

Noticing Curt's posture, Spider-Man thought, _It's like he's running on fumes at this point. Whatever's going on, it's taken its toll on Dr. Connors and he's clearly going to collapse soon._ "Dr. Connors, please listen to me. You have to stop running, stop stealing, and just accept it's over."

"Can't stop," Curt said, exhaustion entering his voice. "Won't stop, not until I help . . . my family."

"You're tired, Doctor," Spider-Man stated. "You can't keep this up much longer." _Not sure I can either._

"You wouldn't understand," Curt whispered.

"Try me," Spider-Man merely said.

Curt thought for a moment, then whipped at Spider-Man with his tail, sending Spider-Man into a pillar. Curt tore the tracer off and smashed it, then ran up the stairs, hoping to exit the station. Spider-Man ran after him briefly, only to hear a blast and to see Curt fall down the stairs and back into the station. Looking at the exit, Spider-Man looked to see Iron Man fly down, then land.

"I see you came to your senses, Spider-Man," Iron Man stated. "How are you feeling?"

"Betrayed," Spider-Man sighed, "and hurt. Physically, I'm tired, but outside of that and some cuts, I'm fine."

Curt groaned as he got up. Shaking his head, he looked to see Iron Man with his hands raised, repulsors ready to fire. He turned to look at Spider-Man who had his two middle fingers of each hand hovering over the triggers of his web-shooters and aiming them at Curt. Sighing, he raised his hands up.

"You're right," Curt admitted, defeat in his voice. "It is over. Just don't take them in with me. They had nothing to do with this. I was trying to help save them from the mess I made."

"Who? Iron Man asked.

"My family," Curt replied.

"No, leave him alone!" a voice called out.

Curt looked to see the young male creature run out and grab him. Trying to push the boy away, Curt yelled, "Let me go!"

"I can't, Dad!" the young male said.

"Dad?" Spider-Man asked, confused.

"Curt," a woman's voice called out. Not too long afterward, the source of the voice—the female creature—ran out and grabbed the young male, saying, "Billy, let him go!"

"What?" Iron Man asked, quickly becoming confused. "What's going on?"

"Curt?" the female asked.

"I'm turning myself in, Martha," Curt whispered. It's what I deserve."

" 'Martha?' " Spider-Man whispered to himself.

*****S*****

In a car, William Lamont drove as he and Neil Garrett sped towards the sight of the battle between the Lizard and Spider-Man, the light on the car flashing and the siren blaring. Rain continued to pour from the skies, but it was starting to let up. From the calls 9-1-1 received, the station had suffered some damage from the battle, but Spider-Man was trying to end it quickly.

Hearing his phone ring, Garrett grabbed and answered it, asking, "Hello?"

Carlie Cooper's voice said, "Detective, it's Carlie. I found the DNA from the other scales. You're not going to believe this, but I think I figured out what happened to Dr. Connors's family."

"What's that got to do with the scales?" Garrett asked.

"The DNA matched sample we got from hair that we believe to belong to Martha and Billy Connors," Carlie replied.

"His wife and son?" Garrett asked.

"Yes," Carlie replied. "We checked one of the samples and while it wasn't a match for Curt Connors, it did match his lineage."

"He was trying to cure them with his old research!" Garrett said, unlocking what happened. "Thanks, Cooper."

"What was that about?" Lamont asked.

"I know what happened to Connor's family," Garrett replied. "And I bet'cha wherever Connors's hiding, they're there, too. Step on it."

Lamont nodded and stepped his foot on the gas pedal.

*****S*****

Iron Man and Spider-Man looked at the creatures, then at Curt. The creatures looked at them pleadingly, but Spider-Man didn't know what to do. Iron Man looked at Curt. Expecting to be hit, Curt was surprised when both Iron Man and Spider-Man lowered their arms. While he couldn't see their eyes because of their masks, Curt could feel that they've figured out what was going on.

"Martha?" Spider-Man asked. "Billy?"

The creatures—once recognizable as Martha and Billy Connors—nodded their heads.

"What did you do to them?" Iron Man asked angrily. "They're your family!"

"I was trying to cure them of their cancer," Curt quietly replied, tears starting to stream down his face. "They'd gotten sick and despite all of my training, I couldn't help them! I couldn't accept losing them. No, I _wouldn't _accept it. It consumed me and ate at me, knowing that I could lose them and I didn't want to.

"It cost me everything and drove me crazy, but I thought that I knew I could cure them of cancer. So I used my old research notes, hoping to find the right balance and avoid giving them the curse that I have."

"But it didn't work like that, did it?" Spider-Man asked.

"I was able to cure them," Curt replied, "but they still because Lizard-like creatures like me."

"How'd you do it?" Iron Man asked, still outraged. "Did you force your so-called cure on them?"

"No," Martha replied honestly. "I volunteered. When it seemed like it worked, we used it on Billy."

"That'd explain why Throne didn't find anything on your last visit with him," Spider-Man stated.

Curt nodded. "When it seemed like it was working for them after two weeks, I tried it on myself, hoping that maybe it could regrow my arm without turning me into the Lizard. But the serum still had the side effects."

"It mutated them," Iron Man said, now calmer.

"Yes," Martha replied. "One night, Billy and I were in pain and doubled over. We didn't realize until it was too late than we were transforming like Curt had in the past. Not much later that night, Curt mutated as well."

"But he'd injected it later," Spider-Man stated, baffled. "How did that happen?"

"It combined with the Lizard serum already in me," Curt replied. "That's why I mutated faster. As a side effect, it repressed the Lizard persona, but I'm not sure if it's permanent or just temporary. Despite what happened, my intention was never to mutate them like me."

"That's why you wanted to go at it alone," Spider-Man stated. "You felt guilty and that it was your responsibility to save them, so you hid them to protect them from people who'd wanna experiment them and stole from the labs to get what you needed to undo it."

"Take me in, but don't reveal what happened to my family, I beg of you," Curt stated. "They don't deserve that."

Iron Man thought for a moment, then sincerely said, "I'll put in a call to some people. I'm sure someone like Hank McCoy or Reed Richards or Moira MacTaggert would be willing to help you and your family, Dr. Connors."

"You'd be willing to do that?" Curt asked, confused.

"Yes," Iron Man replied. "Now go. I'll be back after you."

"Thank you," Curt whispered appreciatively.

As Curt, Martha, and Billy ran off, Spider-Man looked at Iron Man and said, "Thank you. None of them asked for that."

"I know," Iron Man stated. "I'm sorry."

"I was trying to help them to avoid something like what did happen," Spider-Man stated. "I should get back."

"Have you thought about what I said?" Iron Man asked.

"I don't know," Spider-Man replied as he left.

Not long after Spider-Man left, Iron Man walked out to see police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances pull up. Looking to see Lamont and Garrett run towards him, Iron Man shook his head. In the chaos of what happened, he'd forgotten that he'd have to deal with them.

"Where's Connors?" Lamont asked.

"Safe," Iron Man replied, "as is his family. They'll be getting help."

"Is his family . . . like him?" Garrett asked.

"I'm not answering that," Iron Man. "Just that they're safe. Connors felt it was his fault." With that, Iron Man took to the air and flew off.

_*****S*****_

It was dark and the rain had let up when Peter got back to his house. Walking inside, he saw Mary Jane run up and hug him tightly, relieve washing over her. Peter hugged her back, smiling. Mary Jane soon caught sight of the cuts on Peter's arm. Running over to a first aid kit, Mary Jane quickly grabbed it and ran back, then started to treat Peter's wounds.

"So, did you find them?" Mary Jane asked.

"Yeah," Peter replied. Then he told them the story about what happened to Martha and Billy and what it drove Curt to do.

"My God," Mary Jane whispered. "That poor family, doomed to suffer Curt's fate with him, all because of his desperation to save them. Curt must feel terrible about what happened to them and how he was involved."

"He does," Peter stated. "Hopefully, they'll get help, though., and one day will be normal again."

Aunt May walked into the room and saw Peter's cut. "Peter, what happened?" she cried. "You're bleeding!"

"I got knocked down, but I should be fine," Peter replied.

"Where have you been, anyway?" Aunt May asked, sniffing Peter. With disgust at the smell emanating from him, she added, "You smell like you've been in a sewer!"

"I got knocked into some trash, too," Peter lied. He couldn't let Aunt May worry about him. "But I plan to take a shower soon."

"Well, it's getting late, so I'm going to bed," Aunt May stated. "Good night."

"Good night," Peter said.

After Aunt May went to bed, Peter went up to the bathroom and tired to take a shower. After a long time in the shower, the smell finally abated and Peter got out, then got dressed in an undershirt and a pair of boxers. He walked into the bedroom to see Mary Jane in a nightie, sitting in the bed. The Spider-Man costume was draped over a nearby chair.

Plopping onto the bed, Peter leaned onto the bed and pulled the covers onto him, with Mary Jane shortly joining him under the covers. Looking up, Peter stared at the ceiling in silence, trying to calm down his thoughts. While he was feeling tired, because of the thoughts running in his brain, he couldn't get to sleep.

Noticing this, Mary Jane asked, "What's wrong?"

"I think I gotta do it, M.J.," Peter replied. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I have much of a choice."

"Peter, don't do this," Mary Jane pleaded, realizing where this was going.

"I am Spider-Man," Peter stated. "Johnny and Iron Man, as much as I'm loathe to admit it, are right—I do have responsibilities to the city. Reed and Susan have a family and they're still superheroes."

"They still took a brief break," Mary Jane stated, "and they live in a building with whatever security that Reed can think of. We don't."

"I know a couple of other heroes are parents, too," Peter said.

"You put in your time and you've earned your rest. Others can pick up where you're leaving up. You don't have to do this!"

"I do." Peter sighed. "I will hang up the tight eventually, but right now, the city still needs me. It still needs a Spider-Man and with Ben out of town, I have to do it."

Mary Jane pressed on, "The city continued without you! It still can."

"If I don't, then someone else, maybe a kid, will do it and will likely get themselves killed because they don't know what to do."

"You didn't have training, you were a kid, and you could still get yourself killed even now!"

"But it was my responsibility, M.J. It's what I have to do. It's what I need to do." Peter sighed. "If you wanna leave with little May, I don't blame you. But this isn't about me trying to avoid responsibility to my family; it's me trying to help the city."

"I can't talk you out of it?"

Peter shook his head. "I tried to talk myself out of it. So, no, I'm not sure you can. I'm sorry."

Mary Jane sighed. "I knew what I was doing and who I was marrying when I married you, Peter. I still wanna be with you. I imagine that firemen and cops feel like this all the time."

"So you're staying?"

Mary Jane nodded. "Yeah, I am. Just promise me you'll be careful for all of our sakes."

Peter smiled. "I will."

Mary Jane grinned. "Think you'll be up to the task?"

Peter sighed. "We'll see, won't we?"

"So what are you gonna do for a job?"

"Go to Jonah and beg for my job back at the _Bugle_."

Mary Jane smiled. "Well, good luck, and good night."

"Good night, M.J." Peter soon drifted off into sleep, his mind settled.

*****S*****

The following morning at the _Daily Bugle_, the news room was buzzing with reports about what happened. Jonah Jameson had once again had an anti-Spider-Man headline published and an editorial about Spider-Man printed. For the first time in a while, the place was talking about the wall-crawler and reports were coming in of a battle between Spider-Man and the criminals known as the Shocker and Boomerang.

Peter walked out of the elevator and began to make his way to Jonah's office. _I did kinda miss this place,_ Peter thought fondly.

Jonah noticed Peter walking towards his office and yelled, "What are you doing here? You don't work here anymore! You're loitering, Parker!"

Peter sighed. "I'm here to ask for my job back," he replied.

Jonah huffed. "Why should I hire you back? I thought you were too good for us."

Robbie glared at Jonah and said, "Jonah, leave him alone."

Jonah glared back at Robbie. "He deserted us!"

"I've got pictures of Spider-Man fighting Shocker and Boomerang," Peter stated, holding out some pictures.

Jonah took the pictures and looked at them and prattled, "Crap, crap, crap, megacrap, crap." He'd managed to hide his amazement. He'd forgotten how good Peter's shots were, but of course, he wouldn't tell him that.

"So, do I have my job back?" Peter asked.

"Sure," Jonah grumbled. "Welcome back to the _Bugle_, Parker."

Peter let himself smiled. "Thanks."

Robbie looked at Peter and said, "I don't think Jonah will ever tell you this, Peter, but I do think he missed you."

"Thanks, Robbie," Peter said.

Betty Brant walked them, then looked at Peter. "I-is that right?" she asked. "You're really back now?"

Peter rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I am," he replied, smiling.

"Well, welcome back," Betty said.

"I should get going," Peter said. Smiling, he thought, _Boy, it does seem like I might be stuck in a rut, but you know what? For now, this'll do._ Peter turned and began to walk away.

As Peter walked the news room, Robbie looked out the window and looked over the city. Unlike Jonah, Robbie thought New York needed Spider-Man, so he was glad to hear that Spider-Man was back. Hearing a scream, Robbie turned to Jonah's office and ran towards it, followed by Betty. Walking inside, they both found Jonah sitting in his chair.

Then they noticed that there was webbing in the chair and that Jonah was stuck to it. A note laid on the desk. Grabbing the note for a closer look, Robbie read aloud, " 'Dear, J.J., I'm back. Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.' "

"And the webhead punks you again," Betty whispered with a smirk.

"I knew that fraud was back!" Jonah yelled.

Looking out the window, Robbie ignored some of Jonah's complaining and saw Spider-Man swing by and allowed himself a smile. Wherever Spider-Man was, it didn't matter. What did matter was that Spider-Man was back, and Robbie was glad that he was.

**The End**


End file.
